Casting table height?

[.22-10-45]

I suppose it depends on what your height is, and if you sit or stand.. but what height of table do you guys have yor electric pots on? I am standing when casting. Thanks!

[michiganmike]

My casting table is in my basement shop. It sits directly under a window. I put an exhaust fan in the window to pull fumes/vapors away from me. It is 36" high. That was not intentional, but it works well for me. I bought the table at Michigan State University Salvage for a few dollars. All sorts of cool, oddball items.

I put wheels under it so I can move it around for cleaning. And I then put about 1 1/2" of solid top on it. It has two drawers for tools, and a large open storage area underneath. For me to sit throughout the casting process, it would have to be (I'm guessing) about 8" shorter. I do some work standing, some sitting.

[Yodogsandman]

I use an old, metal, grey desk which is 41" tall. While the 10 lb lee BP is fine, with the Lee 20 lb BP, I can't see the spout. I cast sitting down and have to lean over to see it.

Edit: After reading gwpercle's post below, I had to measure it again. It's really 29 1/4". I just measured that a month ago and it must have shrunk! Along with my memory!

[gwpercle]

I cast standing up, from a Lee Magnum Melter and use a dipper. I'm six feet tall.
The bench top is 34 inches AFF (above finished floor). Which works well for standing and dipper casting.
For reference a kitchen counter top is 36 inches AFF and a desk is 30 to 30.5 inches AFF.
The 36 inch top is designed for standing at, the 30 inch top for sitting so I guess the 34 inch top splits the difference and requires a stool if you want to sit at it.
Gary

[Green Frog]

I go to an even greater extreme... my workbench is about 32" high, and I take a 50 cal ammo can (no top) and turn it sideways to bring my pot up higher. I've used this set-up with 10- and 20 lb Lyman pots and now am using it with my Lee Production pots. I stand or semi-sit on a high stool to work. Why such a strange set-up? It's comfortable for me and it works. You'll have to experiment a bit to find what provides those characteristics for you.



Froggie

PS I have a window with full size window fan directly behind the pot and about 24" away. I get great exhaust draw by having the pot at this height and location, another factor I appreciate.

[bangerjim]

Whatever is confortable for you body build. No one height for everybody!

I sit in a padded swing in front of my back shop and have the casting pot clamped to a WorkMate, Perfect height......FOR ME.

Just do what feels right.

banger-j

[Ola]

Whatever is confortable for you body build. No one height for everybody!..
banger-j

Absolutely.

There is one trick you could try out if you want to spare your arm: Pick up a mold and just keep it in front of you. Now you have the "natural" height where your body "wants" the mold to be (the wrist is not bend and shoulder is relaxed).

[GhostHawk]

I just put together a Harbor Freight tool table for my casting table.

It is set at 25" to the top. Only thing I added was a panel originally from a sheet metal desk.
Cut it to fit the top, has nice rolled edges on 3 sides, cut side is towards the back.

Room underneath for lots of ingots, and my molds fit on a small shelf under the top.

For me that is perfect height for dipper pouring from my chair.

[Savage99]

hi 22-10-45
my casting bench is a "standard" height bench (almost 36")used for regular tasks. I then put 6" blocks (may not be exact cause I added some wedges to level things out a bit) under the pot so I can see the mold and lead flow easier. This makes it so I am not constantly bending to see the lead flow going into the mold. The constant bending made casting very uncomfortable for me. I did some experimenting as to the height of the pot in relation to the bench height as I didn't want to waste all of the other bench space for other tasks. Do some experimenting with your pot height and see what works for you and is comfortable. By the way I stand while casting just in case something goes wrong and lead goes everywhere, allows me to move out of the way faster.

[Handloader109]

I have a rolling chair that is adjustable in height. This allows me to vary depending on what I'm doing. Helps a lot

[mongoose33]

I have a rolling chair that is adjustable in height. This allows me to vary depending on what I'm doing. Helps a lot

^this

In the end, it isn't the height of the casting table, it's your height in relation to the casting pot. There are three things that can alter that position: the height of the casting table, the height of the pot on that casting table (put something under it to raise it), or the height of the chair. Having a chair that is adjustable in height may be the best solution.

My casting table happens to be 29 1/2 inches, but I'm always looking at it in terms of the height of the chair (or in my case, the little step stool) I'm sitting on.

[257]

I have mine set up so it fits me ,when my buddy comes over he can't stand the height so I guess it goes to each persons likes

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I designed mine with this one thought, have it at a height that I can easily see the pour spout of the lead pot from a comfortable chair.